Who's our new favorite torturer in one of the 'stans?

[T Roosevelt]

Mike Malloy keeps mentioning a dictator in one of the new "stans" over in southern Russia that we are now supporting...

[BigBigBear]

1. Niyazov

who runs Turkmenistan.

Boils people alive. Lovely character.

[NoPasaran]

2. Sure it's not Karimov?

Who I think runs Uzbekistan. Hard to keep up with your neostalinist dictators without a scorecard.

[MisterP]

4. Karimov's the Uzbekistan boiler

[Aidoneus]

7. that's not Niyazov

he's a curious character in his own right, but that's the exploits of his neighbor that you're referring to.

[JohnyCanuck]

10. I think you might be thinking of Karimov of Uzbekistan

Let me introduce you to our presidents new best friend, President Karimov of Uzbekistan.

President Karimov government was awarded $500m in aid from the Bush administration in 2002. The SNB (Uzbekistan's security service) received $79m of this sum.

The U.S. State Department web site states "Uzbekistan is not a democracy and does not have a free press. Many opponents of the government have fled, and others have been arrested." and "The police force and the intelligence service use torture as a routine investigation technique."

Now I would like to introduce you to Muzafar Avazov, a 35-year old father of four. Mr Avazov had a visit from our presidents friends security force (SNB), the photographs below detail the brutality and inhuman treatment our tax dollars subsidize, with the full knowledge of our president and his administration.

Muzafar Avazov, body showed signs of burns on the legs, buttocks, lower back and arms. Sixty to seventy percent of the body was burnt, according to official sources. Doctors who saw the body reported that such burns could only have been caused by immersing Avazov in boiling water. Those who saw the body also reported that there was a large, bloody wound on the back of the head, heavy bruising on the forehead and side of the neck, and that his hands had no fingernails.


Warning gruesome photos of Uzbekistan torture victim at link below.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article3943.htm


Now to add insult to injury, latest news is that the elderly mother of this torture victim has herself been arrested and sentenced to 6 years hard labor in all likelihood for having the gall to publicize the issue of her son's death by torture.

The elderly mother of a religious prisoner allegedly boiled to death by Uzbekistan's secret police has been sentenced to six years in a maximum security jail after she made public her son's torture.
Fatima Mukhadirova, 63, a former market vegetable seller, is the mother of Muzafar Avazov, who died in the notorious Jaslik high security jail in 2002. She was convicted of attempting to "overthrow the constitutional order".

An Uzbek judge yesterday said she had "set up an underground cell of women propagating the ideas of Hizbut Tahrir". The secret police had found "incriminating" pamphlets in her flat, a common occurrence in arrests of group members.

But note this:

Mr Murray's persistent protests over the country's human rights record contributed towards a recent Foreign Office investigation into his conduct. Uzbekistan has provided the US and UK with an essential military base for operations in neighbouring Afghanistan, and receives more than $100m (£53m) a year in American aid, for being an ally in the "war on terror". Many believed that No 10 felt that Mr Murray's remarks drew unnecessary attention to the moral flaws in an important logistical alliance.

The US state department recently indicated that Uzbekistan's human rights record was so bad that American aid would have to cease.

Personally I am not holding my breath, state department.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,1146979,00.html

[PA Democrat]

3. Ilham Aliyev in Azerbaijan

This guy is torturing dissenters, shutting down free speech, but he's our new best friend because of... you guessed it.....OIL

http://www.unwire.org/UNWire/20040123/449_12398.asp

[hatrack]

8. Oh, but it's not just oil

It also involves military bases and overflight rights - can't forget about those when you're so busy winning the War On Terra.

[Poiuyt]

5. I think he might be refering to Turkmenistan & Niyazov

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/12/31/60minutes/main590913.shtml

"Back in the ‘90s, an American oil company, Unocal, hired heavy-hitters like Henry Kissinger to tap into Turkmenistan's huge natural gas reserves via a proposed pipeline through Afghanistan. That deal fell through because of the Taliban. But today, Donald Rumsfeld is another heavy-hitter who's lobbying for Turkmenbashi's help. Rumsfeld made a quiet visit here last year to urge the Turkmen dictator to help with the on-going battle against the Taliban next door."

[Sufi Marmot]

6. Evidently, you can take your pick...

Given that your question produced three different answers (all valid, IMHO)...Remember these guys when your GOP/Freeper friends start spouting off about how we had to invade Iraq to restore democracy there. Oil/natural gas notwithstanding, we're supporting Karimov and Niazov because they've taken a hard line against Islamic fundamentalism. Sound familiar....?

-SM

[BigBigBear]

9. Welp, I was close

But I'll concede the "boiling" component to the other guy.

Niyazov is the Cult Of Personality wingnut....


http://www.muslimuzbekistan.com/eng/ennews/2003/06/ennews04062003.html

The 1992 Constitution disproportionately deposits power in the recesses of the President, with both the legislature and judiciary acting arms of Niyazov (interestingly damaging allegations of Niyazov’s involvement in drug trafficking have been circulating for sometime). Credible reports cite the use of arbitrary arrest and detention, with torture commonplace. One cited example is the suspicious death in custody of a ‘Turkmenistan Foundation’ (TF) representative, Khoshali Garayev, kidnapped from Tashkent by the KNB, along with fellow TF activist Mukhammetguly Aimuradov, who remains in detention.